At the Shedd Aquarium these days, there's almost as much touching going on as at a massage therapist's spa or an Apple store. Last month, the marine animal showcase by the lake introduced Stingray Touch, a place for warm-weather visitors to pet de-barbed, ocean-going bottom-feeders in an outdoor pool. This week, the Shedd unveiled Sturgeon Touch, an indoor freshwater pool for fondling the giant, ancient, cartilaginous fish that dwell in the Great Lakes and occasionally make sport fishermen...

Wisconsin officials are floating the idea of allowing fish farmers to raise sturgeon for commercial sale as a way to prevent poachers from taking the fish out of Wisconsin waters for caviar. The state agriculture department and the Department of Natural Resources recently released a report raising the idea that the state's aquaculture industry should raise sturgeon to deter poaching of the wild fish, which inhabit Lake Winnebago and a few Wisconsin rivers. The fish's population is being rapidly...

Caviar is a treasure of taste and texture, but unfortunately the finest are priced like Faberges. Still, entertaining with caviar is possible if you're flexible. Forget the troika of the Caspian Sea -- beluga, osetra and sevruga. Move instead to wild or farmed caviars produced in America from the roe of hackleback sturgeon, paddlefish, salmon, whitefish, trout, bowfin and domestic varieties of sturgeon. Not cheap but you get more eggs for the buck. 1. Tsar Nicoulai California Estate Osetra From...

Health officials in Missouri and Illinois are advising people against eating Mississippi River sturgeon, which have been found to have high levels of chlordane, a toxic pesticide. The health advisory covers only sturgeon. State officials also said chlordane poses no danger to drinking water. Chlordane was used as an agricultural pesticide until the government banned its use on farms in 1978. It is still used for underground termite control. If consumed, chlordane can...

Arthur G. Bitzer of Lombard, IL, formerly of Western Springs. Beloved husband of 66 years to Roberta M. Bitzer; loving father of Nancy (William) Sturgeon and John (Sharon) Bitzer; devoted grandfather of Katie, Linda, Matt and Corey; great-grandfather of Jessica and Mia. No visitaion. Memorial Service Sunday, March 8, 2 p.m. in the Chapel of First Presbyterian Church of La Grange, 150 S. Ashland Ave., La Grange, IL. Interment private. Donations in his memory to the American Diabetes...

The sight of Eric Linde threading a bloody foot-long chunk of fresh eel over an immense saltwater hook made Willie Illingworth hungry. Propping a thick jar between his barrel of a body and club of a left arm with the missing hand, he unscrewed the jar and withdrew chunks of something that strongly resembled pickled herring. He passed the chunks around the boat, and we all chewed the rubbery substance. "This is no pickled herring," I cannily observed, mouth puckered...

Ghostly wisps of fog drifted on the surface of the Wisconsin River on a cold night under a full moon and twinkling stars. The Edgar Allan Poe conditions were suitable and appropriate for five of us stalking giant lake sturgeon lurking in the shallow water. There are only a handful of places in the world where the seemingly prehistoric fish thrive and legally can be caught by anglers who hunger to touch an amphibian's scaly armor that has changed little since dinosaurs roamed the earth.

"Lots of artillery out there," an old man hollered from the safety of the Suwannee River's edge, and he was right. The sturgeon were jumping high and fast, twisting their armored girth in midair and returning to the depths with a stunning splash. On the water, there was reason to be anxious. Florida's season of "sturgeon strikes" -- law enforcement's term for collisions between the state's largest freshwater fish and hapless boaters -- was already well under way. It may seem...

By Felicity Barringer, New York Times News Service | September 30, 2005

The Fish and Wildlife Service is beginning a ban on imports of beluga sturgeon caviar and other beluga products from the Caspian Sea on Friday after countries in the region failed to detail plans to conserve the fish, which is listed internationally as threatened with extinction. The United States consumes 60 percent of the world exports of beluga caviar, an expensive delicacy that is considered the king of caviar. While osetra and sevruga caviars are consumed in far greater amounts...

By Mary Harris Russell. Mary Harris Russell who teaches English at Indiana University Northwest, reviews children's books each week for the Tribune | January 7, 2007

Sock Monkey Rides Again By Cece Bell Candlewick, $13.99 Ages 4-7 years Sock Monkey wants to be in the singing-cowboy movie, even if he has to kiss the leading lady. He has appeared in movies before, but such roles as the chew toy in "Sassie Go Home" haven't satisfied his craving for stardom. So it's on to "Hubbub at the Happy Canyon Hoedown." It's an all-toy production, you should note, in case you haven't noticed the pull string coming out of the director's back or the wind-up key on the...

Because selecting fresh caviar is a matter of personal preference, it's best to shop for it where you can taste before purchasing. These salted eggs (also known as roe) from sturgeon are classified by the type of sturgeon from which they are gathered. Prices correlate to egg size, a factor determined by the age of the salmon when the roe is harvested. Beluga, the most expensive of the three (around $89 an ounce for Iranian), has the largest eggs and is often described as having the mildest flavor.

James David Sturgeon, 72, of Sierra Vista, died Monday, July 17, 2006, at Amberwood Nursing Home, Rockford. Jim and his wife were vacationing in the area when he became ill. They celebrated 47 years of marriage while Jim was in the hospital. Born on April 14, 1934, in Sedalia, MO, the son of Clifford and Mary Ann, nee Lane Sturgeon. He grew up in Kansas City, KS, attending Wyandotte High School. He moved to Chicago to work as a switchman for the railroad. He met his wife, Judith Benningfield, and they were...

A healthful hand As a faithful reader of Good Eating, I want to thank you for your very useful, and I think fairly unique, additions of nutrition information per serving on each recipe. I always appreciate being able to see that box, but I am particularly grateful since a medical condition requires monitoring carbohydrates. In no small way, you contribute to my maintaining doctor's orders and hopefully continued good health. Marilyn Moss Hendershot, Evanston ...

A worldwide suspension of caviar exports has been extended on major producing nations except Iran, a UN diplomat said Wednesday. The decision amounts to an indefinite extension of a ban imposed three months ago in an effort to reverse dwindling populations of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea region. The top caviar exporting nations surround the Caspian Sea and account for 80 percent of the global trade.

Caviar is a treasure of taste and texture, but unfortunately the finest are priced like Faberges. Still, entertaining with caviar is possible if you're flexible. Forget the troika of the Caspian Sea -- beluga, osetra and sevruga. Move instead to wild or farmed caviars produced in America from the roe of hackleback sturgeon, paddlefish, salmon, whitefish, trout, bowfin and domestic varieties of sturgeon. Not cheap but you get more eggs for the buck. 1. Tsar Nicoulai California Estate Osetra From...

The global export of caviar, the briny eggs of sturgeon that is one of the most coveted and lucrative wildlife products, was ordered halted Tuesday under the international convention that helps nations manage threatened species. The suspension, called for by the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, was described as a temporary measure to compel nations that still export caviar and other products from wild sturgeon to demonstrate that their fishing...

Egg-laying animals and their output: 1. California Condor-1 egg every two years 2. Penguin-1 a year 3. Hummingbird-2 a year 4. Sturgeon-7 million a year 5. Queen termite-30,000 eggs daily (annual rate 10.95 million if they live that long) 6. Oyster-500 million a year